Aims: Residual SYNTAX score (rSS) is known to be associated with cardiac events. We sought to investigate the association between rSS and grayscale and virtual histology (VH)-intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) plaque morphology, and the association between rSS and non-culprit-related major adverse cardiac events (MACE) using data from the PROSPECT study.

Methods And Results: A total of 697 patients with acute coronary syndromes were enrolled in the PROSPECT study. Read More

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and symptomatic non-obstructive CAD (NOCAD) is an increasingly recognized entity that is associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes. Nearly half of those undergoing coronary angiography for appropriate indications such as typical angina or a positive stress test have no obstructive lesion. Physiologic assessment of the coronary arteries beyond the two-dimensional angiography is not standardized, yet can provide valuable information in such patients presenting with typical angina in the setting of NOCAD. Read More

Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Aims: We sought to investigate the influence of target vessel on prognostic relevance of fractional flow reserve (FFR) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods And Results: A total of 835 patients with available FFR after 2nd generation drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation were included in this study. The primary outcome was target-vessel failure (TVF), including cardiac death, target-vessel related myocardial infarction, and clinically-driven target-vessel revascularization. Read More

Methods And Results: Multiple implantation depths were tested at incremental depths of 2mm using a small size ACURATE neo valve for VIV TAVR in 19mm, 21mm, 23mm, and 25mm Mitroflow(Sorin Group Canada Inc, Burnaby, BC) bioprosthetic valves. Multimodality imaging and hydrodynamic evaluation was performed at each implantation depth. Read More

Coronary artery bifurcation lesions comprise approximately 15-20% of all PCI and constitute a complex lesion subgroup. Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising adjunctive tool for guiding coronary bifurcation with its unrivalled high resolution. Compared to angiography, intravascular OCT has a clear advantage to depict ostial lesion(s) in bifurcation without misleading 2-dimensional appearance of the conventional angiography such as overlap and foreshortening. Read More

Authors:

Department of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Aims: Patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD) have been suggested to develop less atherosclerosis than the general population. This study aimed to evaluate the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with CCHD using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Aims/ To evaluate ImpellaCP over Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VA-ECMO) and their impact on left ventricular (LV) unloading and end-organ perfusion. Methods and results: cardiogenic shock (CS) was induced by injecting microspheres into the left coronary artery in fourteen adult female swine. ImpellaCP or VA-ECMO was initiated in the presence of CS and evaluated after 60 minutes. Read More

Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, University Heart Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Aims: We aimed to assess prevalence and features of PPM following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and its prognostic impact considering baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).

Methods And Results: Data from 1,309 patients undergoing TAVI for severe aortic stenosis was derived from a single-center dedicated TAVI registry. PPM was assessed according to echocardiography at discharge and was defined in accordance with VARC2. Read More

Aims: We sought to compare the effects of intracoronary administration of a fibrinolytic drug (tenecteplase) to those of a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (abciximab) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

Aims: Multiple surgical revisions are often necessary in individuals with congenital heart defects affecting the RVOT or pulmonary valve. There are no multicentre data on the feasibility and safety of percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation using the SAPIEN 3 (S3) transcatheter heart valve.

Methods And Results: Pulmonic S3 is an observational registry of patients undergoing PPVI with the S3 valve across centres in Europe and Canada. Read More

Methods And Results: We assessed 442 STEMI patients who underwent BRS implantation in the BVS STEMI STRATEGY-IT study. Optimal BRS implantation was assessed using PSP-score, developed and validated in the GHOST-EU registry. Read More

Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Absorb bioresorbable scaffold (BRS), the most studied device among all BRS, suffered a major setback following the negative results of the ABSORB trials. However, approximately 34 BRSs from 22 companies are currently under development. The potential device specific factors related to increased event rate in Absorb were: 1) weaker mechanical properties, 2) larger strut thickness (less embedment and larger protrusion) and width (larger footprint) predisposing to underexpansion / protrusion of strut, eventually resulting in increased thrombogenicity, and 3) longer bioresorption time combined with failure of encapsulation of struts before dismantling process ensues. Read More

Aims: We aimed to test the hypothesis that presence of in-stent yellow plaque (YP) assessed by angioscopy would be a risk of very late stent failure (VLSF) of the cobalt chromium everolimus-eluting stent (CoCr-EES) in comparison with first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES).

Methods And Results: The DESNOTE-X study was a prospective cohort study, an extended study of the DESNOTE (UMIN000013515). All patients who received successful angioscopic examination at planned 1-year follow-up of DES were clinically followed. Read More

Methods And Results: Patients who had moderate or severe pulmonary regurgitation after surgical repair of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) with a transannular or RVOT patch were included in the study. Fifty-five patients (67% female; average age 28. Read More

Methods And Results: To examine acute thrombogenicity, C-PzF, durable polymer drug-eluting stent (DP-DES), and bioabsorable polymer DES (BP-DES) were compared in a porcine arteriovenous shunt model and in a rabbit model to evaluate endothelial coverage at 14 days. Barrier function at 28 days in the rabbit was assessed in the former stents as well as in polymer free DES (PF-BES). Read More

Authors:

Aims: To elucidate the short and long-term outcome of patients treated with covered stents compared to all other stented patients. Covered stents are mostly used for coronary perforations with high risk of early adverse events, but their long-term outcome are unknown.

Aims: to assess the performance of a self-expandable valve in bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) stenosis.

Method And Results: an international multicentre registry included a total of 712 patients with aortic stenosis treated with ACURATE neo in both bicuspid (n=54%; 7.5%) or tricuspid (n=658; 92,4%) anatomy. Read More

Aims: To investigate the predictors of long-term adverse clinical events after implantation of the everolimus-eluting Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS).

Methods And Results: We pooled patient-level databases derived from the large-scale ABSORB EXTEND study and five high-volume international centers. Between November 2011 and November 2015, 1,933 patients underwent PCI with a total of 2,372 Absorb BVS implanted. Read More

Aims: We evaluated the contribution of the retrograde approach to real-world practice over time and its long-term outcomes in chronic total occlusion (CTO)-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods And Results: We evaluated 1,635 CTO procedures conducted at our high-volume center between 2003 and 2015. The retrograde approach has been actively adopted in practice since January 2007. Read More

Aims: We investigated the effects of an initial learning period with mandatory optical coherence tomography (OCT) guidance for the implantation of everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS).

Methods And Results: We analyzed procedural and clinical outcomes of all BVS implantations at a single center where OCT guidance was mandatory in the initial rollout (OCT-mandatory) phase. We compared these data with the later phase where use of OCT was at operator discretion (OCT-selective or angiography). Read More